Republican senators defy Trump, reject national emergency declaration

New York: Donald Trump will be forced to issue the first veto of his presidency, after 12 Republican senators joined with Democrats to terminate his declaration of a national emergency on the US-Mexico border.

US President Donald Trump says he is prepared to use his veto power to push ahead with funding for a wall on the US-Mexico border. Credit:AP

The Senate vote on Thursday, local time, represented the strongest display of defiance to Trump's agenda by Republican politicians since Trump entered the White House two years ago.

In February, Trump declared a national emergency in order to free up billions of dollars to build a wall on the Mexican border.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted earlier this month to terminate the emergency declaration, triggering a vote in the Republican-dominated Senate.

"Already, Democrat presidential candidates are saying they would declare emergencies to tear down the existing border wall, take away guns, stop oil exports, shut down offshore drilling and other leftwing enterprises - all without the approval of Congress."

Although he was aware he would lose Thursday's vote, Trump lobbied hard to limit the number of Republican defectors.